1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to automatic washing machines, and more particularly to an improved structure in such washing machines in which the washing water containing detergent particles is repeatedly drawn up to the upper part of a washing tub, at which the washing water is then evenly sprinkled onto the fabric articles inside a dehydrating tub, by a water circulation pump, thereby causing the detergent particles to be finely ground by the rotation of a pump impeller so as to be completely dissolved in the washing water and, as a result, improving the washing effect, and the lints generated in the washing is efficiently filtered off and in turn automatically discharged from the washing machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As well known to those skilled in the art, in clothes washing, irrespective of the washing type, that is, manual washing and mechanical washing, washing effect is achieved by virtue of a chemical separation of dirt from the clothes by means of the detergent as well as a mechanical separation of the dirt from the clothes caused by mechanical friction.
Various types of automatic washing machines have been proposed to improve the washing effect but have presented many difficult problems.
For example, there has been proposed a washing machine of the pulsator (agitator vane wheel) type as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,553,413 and 4,555,919. Each of the known washing machines disclosed in the U.S. patents comprises an agitator vane wheel which is disposed in the bottom of a dehydrating tub and agitates the fabric articles, particularly clothes, contained in the dehydrating tub which has a plurality of holes at its cylindrical side wall and is in turn mounted for rotation inside a washing tub.
However, in the known washing machines such as disclosed in the above U.S. patents, some of the detergent particles for use in the washing generally remains between an inner tub, i.e. the dehydrating tub, and an outer tub, i.e. the washing tub, during a washing cycle with its solid state remaining and is simply discharged from the washing machine during the next cycle, that is, the dehydrating and draining cycle. In result, the known washing machines have an disadvantage in that they requires to input much more amount of detergent exceeding a predetermined required amount thereinto in order to achieve desired washing effect. Particularly in the case of the washing of large loads of clothes, the known washing machine of the pulsator type causes some of the clothes disposed at the upper portion of the dehydrating tub to be scarcely agitated and, in this respect, impairs the chemical bond of the detergent to the dirt of the clothes as well as the mechanical friction of the clothes. Hence, the chemical and mechanical separation effect of the dirt from the clothes is inevitably reduced and this detrimentally affects the washing effect.
In addition, the known washing machine is generally provided with a filtering net for filtering off impurities, particularly lints generated in the washing, floating in the washing water. However, this type of known washing machine has a disadvantage in that its filtering net requires to be often manually treated in every washing so as to remove the impurities which were filtered off thereby.